I need suggestions for a good carrier to put my dog in, plus how to give her enough water. What was your airlines policy on getting the dog on the plane on time, plus any other tips you can provide, such as the necessary paperwork beforehand? I know to fly her the cool months from November to say, January. Tony

Recently I moved three labs to Cebu. All my dogs weigh in excess of 90 lbs and one is 120lbs. I used an approved carrier called the Sky Cab, they range in price from $30-$100.

I have moved my dog's several times and never had problems using this carrier. They are available in several sizes. You can purchase water bottles that can be attached via a metal bracket that will contain about a quart of water. They are not expensive, but they leak, so I chose to use a large baby bottle instead. I got the dogs to drink from the bottle about three days prior to leaving so they got used to it. Prior to shipping the dogs I called the Dept of Animal control for a permit to bring the dogs. Took about a week to get the permit, and the permit itself is only good for 14 days. As soon as I got the permit I took the dogs to the Vet and got a certificate of health and all necessary shots including hepatitis. Also, don't forget to ask for a prescription for heartworm.

Another thing, Philippines Air charged me 1000.00 per dog to fly from Honolulu straight to Mactan in Cebu. If you don't mind the stops, JAL will charge you approximately 200.00, but you may lay over in some cases overnight, and still only get as far as Manila. Make sure you contact the airlines prior to, to find out what markings they require on the cage itself as airlines differ as to how they want them labeled. (Strangello)

I brought my two dogs from Omaha Nebraska USA to Cebu Philippines the end of May 2004. You fly the dogs based on the weather from origin to destination. After reading the nwa.com on dogs, call nwa cargo 800 and find a rep that relates. A few reps will put you down right away, but I worked in operations at the railroad for 15 years and no one rep is the same. Some reps just want to work with dry goods and lazy to work with dogs because they involve lots of conversation. Once you find someone willing to spend the time to work with you, keep their name and keep in contact. This makes a big difference. I got a gal that was really helpful and had some that just didn't want to take the time to mess with dogs.

I flew my dogs three months before I got here and they stayed with relatives. Why, because of the weather. I think it was Dave Star that told me to fly them in May. You check out the weather pattern, which is tough, but when the dog flies they check the route temps and then they know. You may have to bring your dog's home and back a few times, but you will find an opening in the weather and NWA will find different routes every time.

Once they were going through Anchorage and then it was changed to Detroit. In the early AM these dog services are there with maybe 30 dogs flying out and that's when the dog raisers ship their dogs are early morning. NWA cargo opens at 6am in Omaha. Get their phone number by going down there in person and chatting. When you're there you can get their phone and fax number, but you still key around the rep at the NWA 800 number. Soon the NWA cargo will be on the phone last minute with the 800 rep and get your dogs up and away.

1) The Philippine consulate has a web page and you need to get an import permit from the bureau of Animal Industry in Quezon City. It's not hard to do. Your Philippine Consulate has someone who handles dogs. I finally called 'dave' in Quezon Phil Dept Ag, Bureau of Animal Industry. They are easy to work with once you get someone who speaks English and doesn't just brush you off. Having a fax machine is a big, big help. Fax me to death.

2) You need to have your vet fill out a 'small animal permit for the Consulate to stamp and it has to be within 20 days. So you must overnight it to the Consulate. Get a person's name at the Consulate. Remember UPS is shut down on weekends, so pickup at the Philippine Consulate requires you to have the return overnight envelope and carrier arranged and prepaid by you. If the consulate has them ready on Friday, you may wait until Monday before they pick them up.

So, I like that case you would want return via USPS overnight. Try to arrange your "small animal certificate" by your vet so you can mail it on a Monday and then you know the weekends aren't going to be a problem. It would have been better if the return was USPS cause it sat at the Consulate Friday, Saturday and Sunday until Monday pickup. Remember you are fighting time to get the 20 day limitation for the Phil government, and you need a second one for USDA. As I said your vet knows your dog is okay after 10 days of issuing a small animal cert and should make another one out for free and mail it to you because of the U.S. requires the cert be within 10 days of departure.

3) By the time it comes back your "USDA small animal cert" will be over 10 days, so tell your vet you gonna need another copy just days before the flight leaves. Mine did it for nothing, and just dated it later and mailed it to me.

4) You MUST have a broker. I used triwayord.org in Chicago and they fellow was 'Roman'. He did a great job in getting a customs broker in Manila and a notify party.

5) I used NWA and nwa.com has a sheet on all the things you need to do. The only thing they don't tell you is you need a customs broker which you definitely do.

6) Fly you dog when it is below 85 degrees at all point if it is going cargo. I had to change schedules several times. Drive down to your airport and locate the cargo area for dogs. That way you know the folks and they know you and you don't get lost trying to find the place. Make your relative the consignee, not the broker and make copies of everything so you can fax them if something goes wrong.

7) nwa.com has a page where you can keep posted as to the exact time it lands in Manila. Then, you call LD the notify party. Your dog will be in the 'red lane' for animals live. My dogs got at 10:30pm about May 27th and it was right about 85 degrees. I called and they answered and I told them I didn't want the dog's brain to burn up. They sat in an air condition building all night with the dog until customs opened up in the morning. Then, they brought the dogs to a 'doggie' place for a bath and feed. Then, they got a truck to put them on to Air Philippines and they flew to Cebu, were delivered right to house. I was going to have relatives take a ship to Manila or fly to Manila, but when you add up the expenses and schedule changes and LD phone calls it has no savings.

8) Wal Mart has airline approved cages and tape baggies of 'dry dog fools to the cage/s" Let the dogs sleep in the cages for a few nights as they need to get used to them and it does work. When you bring them to the airport you need lots of shredded newspaper. My dog flew 7am to Detroit, then to a 'doggie' place all day for @$50, then they drive the dogs in their cages back to the airport for a late night flight to avoid the heat and next they are in Japan for a few hours refueling and they get watered, etc., Next it lands in Manila and you check some websites for the temp. I used LITP and four or five fellows gave me the temperature in Manila cause I keep the issue on the LITP that day. I got varying temps, but basically they were about 85 degrees. I called the notify party who apparently had a phone right there on them and I could call and talk to the guy who was with the dogs any time?

Lastly, for TWO dogs is cost me $1299 air from Omaha to Manila. Then, customs, dog handling, trucking, Air Philippines, and delivery to the house was about $1000. I just put it on my credit card at 2.9%APR and auto pay each month. They got here and the relatives said the dog had a sore after some weeks. When I got here I was amazed that some parasites had really made the skin turn red and soon the skin and all can almost peel off the bone. I had a can of this suave for cow utters made in Vermont I bought at Walgrens for about $4 bucks and put that on them and it cleared right up.

It was a lot of work and time-consuming, but the biggest problem was that they didn't tell me I needed a customs broker until I was ready to ship the dogs. Then, I had to reschedule the whole thing and got a broker and from there I eventually could fax the necessary papers to Philippine Bureau of Animal Industry, the customs broker. All these papers will be with the air bill that you get, but make copies be caused customs doesn't really read them and then the broker in Manila can contact your broker and your broker will furnish the Phil broker and you can fax them to the Phil broker. In the end you will know via fax the customs broker and by phone.

Lastly, and apart from your original question is shots. The rabies shot by Phiizer (sp) is a three, year shot. One year shots are merely mislabeled for the income of the vets. There are several articles on the web where years shots can damage the dog. I called the Nebraska Director of Agriculture and talked to him and he said three years shot is fine.

Many vets argue for the one year shot, but you will find they are just after the money. I never found an article in support of a one year shot and pziser doesn't really make such a shot. The shots that are labeled 'one year' are mislabeled in the U.S. and they are really three yea shots. Even the Omaha City Council finally adopted a three year shot like Sarpy county Nebraska. A 30 year veterinarian appeared before the Omaha City Council and said the one year shorts were a rip-off. Another Vet countered. I called the countering Vet on the phone and he slammed the phone in my ear and I am always polite, but factual, and he lost his cool. I basically gave him all the indisputable evidence and told him not one web page out of innumerable web sites had any justification for a one year short, and quite on the contrary it was damaging the dogs with over vaccinations. Sorry if any of you readings a vet, but you all know the truth. Next is a heartworm pill, that's another rip-off. Just after investing about $3+/pill I found that Earl May Garden Center sold them right off the shelves. If you can get a bunch at Earl May, stock up, cause you may take months to find a vet here and you aren't going to haul them in a cab or a jeepney. (Dave Utterback)

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Hi James,

You can actually bring your dog here without too much expense. The trick is that you and your pet must fly Northwest airlines. They are the only carrier that I'm aware of that has a decent fare for bringing your pet here. Make sure your dog flies with you. If not, your pet will be labeled as cargo, which will have to go through customs and a duty amount will be assessed. However, if you bring the dogs with you on the flight, Northwest charges $350 for up to 150 lbs (pet and kennel). [Carriez]